Chapter 76

Gryffindor students, in the eyes of many, embody a fearless and audacious spirit, unyielding in the face of adversity. We often perceive them as valiant souls who dare to confront their deepest fears and venture into uncharted territories. With their lionhearted demeanour, they defy the constraints of caution, traversing the castle's dimly lit corridors long after the veil of night has fallen and when Filch is not on duty. Their unwavering determination and unrelenting curiosity propel them to explore the secrets of Hogwarts, driven by an insatiable hunger for adventure.

"What is wrong with you?" George asked as he threw a bath towel at Albert.

"What do you mean?" Albert said as he caught the towel and used it to wipe his face.

"Why do you take a shower in the morning and again at night? You don't need to shower twice a day. Is that not time-consuming and a waste of water?" George said as he threw a bottle of lotion at Albert.

"I take a cold shower in the morning, and that wakes me up, while I take a warm bath in the evening. It helps me relax and sleep easier," Albert said.

"Does it help you sleep?" Lee Jordan asked.

"It works for me," Albert said.

"Will it work for me?" Lee asked.

"I don't know. It depends on the person. Why don't you try?" Albert said as he threw the lotion bottle back to George.

"Why not? I'll try it," Lee said as he jumped up from his bed. He fetched his bathing essentials before he walked into the bathroom.

Albert sat down on his bed and retrieved his pocket watch from his bedside drawer. He glanced at the time before picking up his wand. Using the levitation charm, he floated a towel onto his bedside drawer. Blocking out the twins' incessant chatter, Albert pointed his wand at the towel. Holding the wand with a firm but relaxed grip, he raised it to be perpendicular to his body. He slowly traced a horizontal figure-eight pattern in the air with the wand, maintaining a steady and fluid motion. As he completed the first loop of the figure-eight, he tilted the wand slightly downward, continuing the figure-eight motion, and near the top, he transitioned it back to being perpendicular.

"Obscuram Verum"

The towel in his drawer seemed to disappear. He glanced at his pocket watch. Albert stood up and picked up the now-invisible towel. He scrutinised his handiwork and carefully checked it over to see if it had worked properly. Albert then placed it on his hand to see its effect on a human body part.

"Albert! ALBERT! Where has your hand gone?" Fred said as he rushed over, panicking, seeing that Albert's hand had disappeared.

"What have you done? We need to go see Madam Pomfrey to fix whatever you did to yourself," George said as he ran towards the door.

But before George could open the door, Albert told him to stop.

"Why? Your hand is clearly missing," George said.

"No need to panic," Albert said as he removed the towel from his hand. "See. There's nothing wrong with me."

"Then how did your hand disappear?" Fred asked as he looked at Albert's hand in amazement.

"I placed a disillusionment charm on a towel and placed it on my hand," Albert said.

"Oh. So there's no need to panic?" George asked.

"Did you see me panic?" Albert replied.

"Can I try it?" George asked with pleading eyes. Albert threw the towel at George. George caught it without seeing it and placed it on top of his hand. He then checked out his invisible hand.

"Now that I look at it, I can still see the outline of my hand. Is that supposed to be there?" George asked.

"No. That's there because I'm still getting used to the spell. If I had more time to practise, the outline would be less noticeable," Albert said.

"Say, could we make an invisibility cloak from the disillusionment charm?" Fred asked.

"As long as you know the spell matrix and know how to engrave it into a cloak, you could. However, you're better off getting an invisibility cloak made of Demiguise's fur. The only problem is that the effect dissipates over time and how much it costs," Albert said.

"Brother, pass me the towel," Fred said as George threw him the towel. He then wrapped the towel around his head, making him seem headless. "Brother, are you thinking what I am thinking?"

George turned to look at the bathroom door with a smirk. "Of course I know. I am your twin brother. I know what you're thinking most of the time."

Lee, having just emerged from his shower, stepped into the dimly lit dormitory, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the day. With a swift wave of Albert's wand, the candles were extinguished, enveloping the room in a shroud of impenetrable darkness. A chill ran down Lee's spine as an inexplicable presence filled the air. His heart quickened and his senses heightened, as if an otherworldly force had descended upon him.

In that moment, a ghostly voice echoed through the blackened room, its chilling tone resonating with macabre power. "Beware, Lee Jordan, for we are the spirits of Hogwarts. We will haunt you for the rest of eternity!" The voice seemed to emanate from all directions, shrouded in spectral mystery. Fred had taken on the role of the ghostly narrator, and to make sure Lee did not recognise him, he ate a voice-changing sweet that Albert had given him.

Surprised, Lee turned; his breath caught in his throat, and his pulse raced with a mixture of fear and exhilaration. There stood a headless thing. His hands trembled as he fumbled to reach for his wand on his bed a few metres away, yearning to dispel the malevolent enchantment that had gripped the room.

But just as the tendrils of panic threatened to consume him entirely, the headless prankster revealed themselves. Fred unravelled the towel, and George and Albert emerged from the shadows of the room. George was holding Albert's camera. The candles flickered back to life, casting warm, gentle light upon the scene.

Lee stood there, caught between relief and exasperation, his heart still pounding in his chest. "You lot frightened the life out of me!" he exclaimed, a mix of annoyance and admiration colouring his words. "That was beyond wicked, even for you. You know that I don't like ghosts and the dark."

"Are you okay, Lee? We never meant to scare you that much," George said as he looked at the photo on the camera screen.

"Where did you get it from? Zonko's?" Lee asked as he stood up.

"No. It's a towel with a disillusionment charm on it. Good point. Would Zonko's have something like this?" Fred asked.

"I don't remember seeing one when we went," George said.

"Me too. He probably doesn't make it," Lee said.

"Few people would try a toy without seeing other people playing with it. Same concept here. No one liked it, and no one brought it, so he got rid of it. That's if he ever made it," Albert said.

"Brother, how about we make it?" Fred said.

"And we can sell it," George said.

"We make it popular and sell even more."

"But we don't know how to make it."

"We could use Demiguise's fur."

"But that's expensive, and we don't have that kind of money."

"But we have Albert. He could learn the spell matrix."

"He could learn how to engrave it into a hat and then teach us."

The twins turned to look at Albert and said, "Albert. Will you learn how to make it and teach us?"

"Maybe," Albert said.

"Promise us!" The twins said it with puppy-doll eyes.

"Hey guys. Is that meant to happen?" Lee said as he pointed at the half-transparent towel on the floor.

"Yes. It means the spell is wearing off," Albert said as he walked over to his bed. He picked up his pocket watch. "Eleven minutes on an inanimate object."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Fred asked.

"Considering it was my first time succeeding properly with proper pronunciation and wand movement and it was on an inanimate object, I would say it was not bad," Albert said.